TN govt starts cable TV corp

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu (TN) government launched on Tuesday its own cable TV corporation, Arasu, to compete with Sumangali Cable Network (SCV) owned by the Maran brothers, grand nephews of chief minister (CM) M Karunanidhi.

Launching the network here, Karunanidhi said it was the first such venture by any state.
The CM said the government had prevailed upon representatives of 70 to 80 popular pay channels to give feed to the corporation. It would take legal action against those refusing feed, he said.

Karunanidhi said only 70 to 80 of the about 300 pay channels in India were popular among the public and hence, the state government had decided to beam programmes only to them.

Justifying his government’s decision to enter the cable TV business, the DMK chief said it was aimed at providing quality services at a fair price.

Some multi-system operators had “exploited” local cable TV operators and earned huge profits, he said in an apparent reference to SCV, which holds a major stake in the cable TV business in the state.

Karunanidhi asserted the monthly subscription to Arasu would not exceed Rs100.